Trump moves to end voting by mail with executive order

President Donald Trump promised to issue an executive order to end mail-in ballots and voting machines, Reuters reported Monday.

“I am going to lead a movement to get rid of MAIL-IN BALLOTS, and also, while we’re at it, Highly ‘Inaccurate,’ Very Expensive, and Seriously Controversial VOTING MACHINES,” Trump wrote on social media.

The move would work in favor of Republicans, who typically vote in person, while Democrats usually vote by mail, the media outlet noted.

While the president vowed to get rid of the at-home option, The Guardian stated he did not offer much information about alternative voting methods. At one point, Trump said he would replace voting machines with watermarked paper, but several locations said that was more costly and less accurate than using machines.

The president has also pushed for paper ballots and hand counting, but The Guardian noted paper was used for almost all of the ballots in the last election. Trump even voted by mail himself in past elections, according to Reuters.

Although each state has a different election process, the president warned them to follow suit.

“Remember, the states are merely an ‘agent’ for the federal government in counting and tabulating the votes. They must do what the federal government, as represented by the president of the United States, tells them, FOR THE GOOD OF OUR COUNTRY, to do,” Trump wrote on social media.

California gov., WA sen. push back on Trump’s plan to end voting by mail

California Governor Gavin Newsom responded to Trump’s proclamations.

“Trump knows he is going to LOSE in 2026,” Newsom wrote on X. “His plan to rig new Congressional seats is going to backfire — thanks to California. Now, he’s clamoring for other ways to cook the results. This man reeks of DESPERATION. Let’s keep up the pressure.”

Trump knows he is going to LOSE in 2026.

His plan to rig new Congressional seats is going to backfire — thanks to California.

Now, he’s clamoring for other ways to cook the results.

This man reeks of DESPERATION.

Let’s keep up the pressure. pic.twitter.com/h3Nf23XNDq

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) August 18, 2025

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) also addressed the proposed executive order.

“We can’t be for suppressing the vote,” Cantwell wrote in a statement. “Vote-by-mail is the consistently most safe and trackable method of voting.”

Cantwell’s office added that there is no evidence voting by mail increases voter fraud.

Mail-in ballots were used at a record high in 2020, during the pandemic, and then dropped in 2024.

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